Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
Jesslyn kept an eye on the young man at the edge of the onlookers. He had on a green sweatshirt, a baseball cap, jeans, and sneakers. She caught his eye and he frowned but didn’t look like he was in any hurry to leave. She walked toward him.
“Hello, Heath.”
“Hi.”
“What are you doing here?”
He shrugged. “I saw the newscast and figured I’d see what Kenny found so fascinating that he had to show up to these things.”
“I see. Any answers?”
“Nope.”
“And you still don’t think Kenny could have anything to do with setting them?”
He rubbed his nose and looked away from her. “I don’t know.”
“What’s changed your mind?”
“Brad’s death.”
Yeah, that could make one think hard about things. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
His eyes reddened and he looked away for a moment. When he turned his gaze back to her, he shook his head. “I don’t get it. Why?” He waved a hand at the blaze. “What’s the point?”
“That’s the foremost question in all of our minds.”
“I thought if I came, I might see something. Or someone. And then I’d somehow know why Brad died. Why someone wanted him silenced. Miraculously know what he knew.” He laughed. A harsh, humorless sound. “But I got nothing.”
She believed him. He was hurting at the loss of his friend. “Kenny can’t tell you?”
“Can’t or won’t. I’m not sure which. I’ve asked him a couple of times and he just shuts me down.”
“Right.”
He let the conversation pause, so she did as well.
“Brad’s funeral is Wednesday,” he said after a few seconds.
“I know.”
They fell silent once more, and Jesslyn started her mental checklist of everything she had to do before she could leave while she waited to see if he had anything else to add.
Heath finally huffed. “This is ridiculous. I don’t know why I thought coming here would help. It obviously doesn’t.”
“Sometimes we do stuff out of desperation or just because it feels like we’re doing something. Being proactive.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Exactly. Just sitting around talking about him, wondering what was going through his mind in his last moments, and being sad is getting old. We need to be doing something to figure out what happened to him.” He met her gaze and jutted his chin. “Figure out who pushed him.”
“And you still don’t have any idea who might have done that?”
“No.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked the ground. “I don’t. If I did, I’d tell you.”
“I think you would.” She bit her lip. “Look, I’m not asking you to snitch on your friends, but if you want to keep pushing Kenny to tell you what he was doing at the last fire with Brad, then you might be able to move things along in figuring out why Brad is dead.”
Heath frowned. “Brad was at the fire?”
“Yeah. You didn’t know that?”
“No.”
“And you can’t think of any reason for that?”
“No, sorry. It’s definitely weird.” He glanced at his phone. “I gotta go.”
“Wait, um ... I don’t know what’s going on or what Brad and Kenny were into, but if you do start asking questions, be careful.” She hesitated. “In fact, never mind. I shouldn’t have suggested that. It might not be safe. Just let it go and let the investigators do their job.”
“I’ll see what I can find out.”
She placed a hand on his arm. “No, I’m serious. Let it go.”
“I’ve already asked Kenny what was going on. What he and Brad were into, and he just told me to back off, that it wasn’t any of my business.”
“But?”
“But I think he’s scared.”
“Scared of what? Or who?”
“No idea.”
Jesslyn chewed her bottom lip debating whether to ask her next question, but finally decided to. “Do you know if Kenny owns a gun?”
“A gun? No.” Heath snorted. “No way. Kenny definitely doesn’t own a gun. And before you ask, neither did Brad. They’re not allowed on campus, much less in the dorms.”
Didn’t mean one wasn’t there, though. She nodded. “Thanks.”
Heath kicked the ground and hung his head for a minute. When he looked up, he met her gaze, a firm resolution in his. “I’m going to go. This is a waste of time. I’ll let you know what Kenny says.”
“Be careful, Heath. Seriously.”
“I will.”
Nathan came into her line of sight, and she waved him over, filled him in on her conversation with Heath, and narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s going on with you? Is Eli okay?”
“He is. For now. I’ll tell you about it later. Are you about done here?”
“Yes.”
“Anyone in the crowd stand out to you?”
“No one.” She ran her gaze over the bystanders one more time while she told him about her conversation with Heath. “I don’t think he knows anything helpful. Kenny and Brad kept him in the dark. But Heath said he thinks Kenny’s afraid of something. Or someone.”
“I’m guessing he didn’t know who that might be?”
“Nope.”
“Jesslyn?”
She turned to see the chief heading her way. He held an evidence bag in his hand. “You found another one?”
“We did.”
She took it and studied it. A beautiful piece. Diamonds, pearls, and emeralds in the shape of a butterfly. She rubbed her thumb over it. It was just dirty. No sign it had been touched by fire. “Someone dropped this here at the edge of the scene.”
“A bystander,” Chief Laramie said with a nod.
“Most likely.” Jesslyn bit off a scream of frustration. “Why can’t we catch this person?” Then again, it would be so very easy to let something this small fall to the ground without anyone being aware.
“We’ll get him, Jess.” He shook his head. “You know, I remember when this place was built thirty years ago. Your dad even showed me the plans.”
“Wait, what? My dad did?”
“Yeah. He and his architect buddy, Bob Nelson, had the plans all laid out on the dining room table one night. He was so proud when it was finally finished.”
“I don’t remember that,” Jesslyn said.
“No reason why you would. You were real little.” A firefighter waved to him and he patted her shoulder. “I’ll catch up in a little bit.”
“Right.”
Nathan nudged her and she blinked. “Oh, sorry. I don’t suppose anyone saw someone drop this, did they?”
“Not that we can tell right now. We had eyes on everyone in the crowd. We even filmed some of it. We’ll watch the footage and see if we can find something on there.”
She nodded. She’d done all she could do here. She’d revisit the scene tomorrow. “I’m going home.” She had to think. And do a little research. Maybe the fires weren’t connected to her after all. Well, they were, but maybe not in the way she was thinking. Maybe they were connected to her father. Which connected them to her, of course. She rubbed her head, thoughts spinning.
“Who’s staying with you tonight?” Nathan asked.
“Kenzie. She’ll take me home.”
“Good.” He hesitated. “You know how I said Eli was okay?”
“Yes.”
“Well, he is and he isn’t. He’s going to be staying with me while I’m in town. As long as this case takes. When it’s time for me to head back home to Asheville, then we’ll figure something else out.”
“Okay. Is that a good thing?”
“Guess we’re going to find out.”
Jesslyn said her goodbyes and finished up at the scene, then headed to Kenzie’s car. She hadn’t had time to arrange another rental.
“Rough scene?” Kenzie asked.
“Not really. Just more of the same. I don’t understand the point of the fires.” Then again, if she understood the why , she could probably pinpoint the who .
She fell silent, thinking, until Kenzie pulled into the garage. After Jesslyn disarmed the alarm, they walked inside, and Kenzie started checking the windows.
“They’re locked,” Jesslyn said.
“I’m sure they are.” She continued her checking and Jesslyn smiled. Kenzie finally returned to the den. “All good.”
“Told ya.”
Kenzie merely smiled.
“I’m going to take a sponge bath,” Jesslyn said. And get some Motrin. Her head had started throbbing, her hands ached, and her leg itched. And while that was a sign of healing, it didn’t make it any less annoying.
“Go to bed, Jess,” Kenzie said.
“Yeah, think I might do that. After I clean up a little.” Her research would have to wait too.
Fatigue hit with the speed of lightning, and she stumbled to the bathroom. It took every last ounce of energy she had to bathe, throw on a T-shirt and sweatpants, and wrap her hair in a towel. She walked to her bed and face-planted.
Then rolled, pulling the comforter over her.
She wasn’t sure how long she slept, but the crash woke her. Then Kenzie was in her room, shoving her shoes at her. “Put them on. Someone threw a Molotov cocktail through your window.”
Sleep fled as adrenaline took over. She slid into her sneakers and grabbed her coat. “First my car, now he wants to burn my house down?” Fury snaked through her, and she grabbed the fire extinguisher from her closet and handed it to Kenzie. “Can we put it out?”
“We can try.”
“I’ve got another extinguisher in the kitchen!” She raced to grab it from the pantry, smelling the smoke coming from her den area.
Kenzie was already dousing the fire with her canister when Jesslyn got hers going. It didn’t take long to get the fire out, but damage had been done. She’d have to assess that later. She grabbed her weapon and raced for the door.
“Jess! Wait!”
“Call 911! He’s not getting away this time!” But she stopped at the door. No sense in bolting out without checking the area.
Kenzie was right behind her, hand on her shoulder, letting her know she was there. Her grip was tight, silently but clearly expressing her displeasure at Jesslyn’s determination to go after the arsonist. “If you insist on going out,” she said, her voice low, phone tucked at her ear, “at least use a different door. This might be what he wants. Set your den on fire and wait for you to come out the front door.”
“Good point.”
“Yes, someone threw a Molotov cocktail through a window.” Kenzie identified herself as law enforcement and gave the address while Jesslyn slipped from her friend’s grip and bolted for the garage. She pressed the button and the door rose, then she aimed herself for the sunroom. “Maybe that will throw him off a bit.”
“You’re not a cop anymore, Jess. The cops are on the way.”
“Maybe not on paper, but you know as well as I do, once a cop, always a cop.”
“Fine. I’ve got your back and I’m calling for backup.”
“And thanks to that streetlight, I just saw someone head for the trees at the back edge of my property.” She took off after them, adrenaline masking the pain in her leg, with Kenzie on the phone behind her.
NATHAN PRESSED THE GAS and the engine purred smoothly to the faster speed. Maybe he’d keep the vehicle after all. If it got him into a position to save Kenzie’s and Jesslyn’s lives, it would be worth it. The call had come from Kenzie that Jesslyn’s home had been attacked and Jesslyn had gone after the attacker. Kenzie was racing after both of them. He was to get there with backup and put his comms in.
When he pulled into the drive, he saw two police cars, two fire engines, an ambulance, and neighbors on the front porches. He also noted the broken window as he shoved the comms into his left ear, praying he was in range. “Kenzie, talk to me.”
“We’re still chasing him.” Her voice came through loud and clear. “He’s running in and out between the houses. No clear path or obvious destination. Just running. I think we’re off Sycamore coming up on Dumas.”
He knew where that was. He passed the information to the nearest officer. “Spread out!” The officers started the foot chase while Nathan spun the wheel and took the next left, then braked to a stop in the middle of the intersection.
A figure came into sight, spotted him, and swerved between two houses. More sirens sounded in the distance and Nathan reported in his position. He shoved out of his vehicle and took off on foot after the disappearing person. The fleeing attacker was fast, and Nathan marveled that the guy’s feet barely touched the ground. Even knowing there was no way he was going to catch him thanks to his now throbbing hip, he kept on.
Because at least if the guy was running, he didn’t have Jesslyn.